In our opinion: Economic freedom

Comments

Ghandi once critized his followers by saying that when the wage earner says
"no" to the wage payer (capitalist), then wages will rise! Free
markets are not good for victims. For those who want cheap and inexpensive
products and services without paying for them, take a look in the mirror and
quit complaining about the greatest engine of economic growth the world has ever
seen! Problems are created when so called victims of government and business
abuse see themselves as helpless and look for politicians to save them from
their irresponsible entitled ways. the result is not free markets, but a psuedo
free market, managed by Democrats and Republicans, that has led to our current
mess. Politicians as a whole are patronizing, vain, and corrupt. There is a way
out; it starts by looking in the mirror!

MountanmanHayden, ID

Jan. 13, 2012 10:00 p.m.

@ Mecklfahess. You are incorrect! The vast majority of large businesses offer
their employees health insurance.

MeckofahessSalt Lake City, UT

Jan. 13, 2012 9:48 p.m.

The author of this article is correct in saying that the next election will be
very important. It will be very important to keep President Obama in office to
look out for the health and well being of the citizenry. Big business certainly
will NOT look out for our well being, that is for sure!

HutteriteAmerican Fork, UT

Jan. 13, 2012 6:13 p.m.

Ya don't suppose the 'heritage foundation' has some sort of agenda, do ya?

'Yesterday, an
investigation by Reuters revealed that Wellpoint routinely drops coverage of
women with breast cancer. According to the report, Wellpoint used a computer
algorithm that automatically targeted...'

"I could understand if we could control what he's eating. But he's
4 months old. He's breast-feeding. We can't put him on the Atkins diet or on a
treadmill," joked his frustrated father, Bernie Lange..."

Mike in Cedar CityCedar City, Utah

Jan. 13, 2012 1:30 p.m.

Dear DN. There you go again. Find a convenient straw man and set it afire.

RicottaSALT LAKE CITY, UT

Jan. 13, 2012 1:04 p.m.

I hate businesses because they can make things more efficiently and
inexpensively than I can make it myself.

CottageCheeseSALT LAKE CITY, UT

Jan. 13, 2012 1:01 p.m.

All you big business haters out there...

Put DOWN your smartphone

Stop shopping at Wal-Mart

Take off your Nike's

Turn off your electicity and gas

Park your car

Drop your
Big Mac

Unplug your computer screen

Roland KayserCottonwood Heights, UT

Jan. 13, 2012 12:27 p.m.

To Gildas: Yes Ireland has ranked very high on this survey for the last several
years. Up until a few years ago Ireland was touted by the conservative press as
an example for other countries to follow. Yet they are now an economic basket
case, while countries like Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, which supposedly do
everything wrong, are enjoying some of the best economies in the world.

Irony GuyBountiful, Utah

Jan. 13, 2012 11:36 a.m.

It's touted Market Freedom also makes Mauritius the center of white slavery,
dope trafficking, and every other nasty "business" under the Indian
Ocean sun.

PaganSalt Lake City, UT

Jan. 13, 2012 11:28 a.m.

'We point this out to contrast it with the United States, which supposedly is a
beacon for freedom but which continues to slide on the same economic index,
which was released this week. Mauritius now ranks ahead of the United States in
terms of economic freedom.' - Aritcle

You know what I hear when I
hear 'economic freedom?'

Financial Meltdown Housing bubble
burst and worst financial decline since the Great Depression.

AIG, Enron, and Godlman Sach's should be evidence enough that America needs MORE
regulation. To avoid Americans loosing their retirement, 401k and savings to
corporate greed.

Greed that runs RAMPAT, without any regulation to
control them.

And yet, this article cites a country smaller than
SLC, as a comparison to the United States.

A country, in which,
allows the Deseret News the RELIGIOUS freedom, to publish it's own paper, as
they are owned, by the LDS church.

There is more to life, than
economic freedom.

And corporations, with their CEO's making RECORD
profits, golden parachutes and jobs outsourced to India...

are NOT
an example we should try to emulate.

Poor article.

GildasLOGAN, UT

Jan. 13, 2012 10:46 a.m.

There is a lot of denial going on here.

I take the point about Hong
Kong having no military as I suppose it hasn't and is unlikely to be allowed one
by its communist overlord. Still Hong Kong has done well and has some special
rights above mainland China. It also has an LDS Temple.

The USA does
not require a constantly warring military or imperial status.

Ireland, which Larry mentions, has been in the Top Ten for economic freedom
since 2000, typically in third and fourth positions.

The United
States was number five in 2008 has been rated from fifth to eighth from 1996,
and was number four (right behind the UK) in its first year, 1995. The UK,
which was also in the top ten until recently, has now dropped to 14th place.

"Socialist Europe" (which is more, I think, "Welfare
Socialist" like the USA, with retirement insurance, unemployment insurance
and the like, but (I believe) without much if any nationalised industry except
for health care) does quite well in economic freedom terms these days, with nine
of its nations presently in the Heritage top twenty.

Much of our
perception of the world is based on ignorance.

ConservativeCedar City, UT

Jan. 13, 2012 9:54 a.m.

This tiny "country" is smaller than Salt lake County. It has no
military, no substantive industrial output and depends mostly on sugar cane and
tourism.

This editorial is nonsense. You picked a tiny
pseudo-country with virtually no history (establisheed 1968) to compare with
superpowers that engage the world is every aspect (US, China, India, Russia,
Europe).

DN, you can do better. Be open minded and fair!

sergioPhoenix, AZ

Jan. 13, 2012 9:05 a.m.

The United States is a waring nation with a predominate militay force and
budget, its economic platform is not comparable with others because it has no
equal. Pehaps it can be compared to England and Spain during the heyday of their
imperialism. But a major difference is that there is not so much easy loot to
gain today to pay for imperialistc ventures so American citizen have to pay out
of their own pockets with taxes.

marxistSalt Lake City, UT

Jan. 13, 2012 9:01 a.m.

Typical Deseret News hogwash. In the United States workers have faced stagnant
real wages for 40 years and have had to incure debt to maintain any standard of
living whatsoever. THAT has enslaved the vast bulk of Americans. We're getting
your number and many of us find your far right ideology obnoxious.

EsquireSpringville, UT

Jan. 13, 2012 8:58 a.m.

There is another side to economic freedom. When business is given unfettered
rights and regulations are removed, they become more powerful and take away my
rights as a consumer, employee and citizen. Choices are lost as companies
conspire and engage in antitrust activities. Scams are devised to wrongfully
take away my money. Actions are taken that make my environment unhealthy and
destroy my quality of life. I can go on and on, but economic freedom is not
just about one side of the equation.

Roland KayserCottonwood Heights, UT

Jan. 13, 2012 8:05 a.m.

What a distorted editorial. Ranking ahead of the U.S. are Australia,
Switzerland, and Canada, all countries that are more "socialized" than
we are, with a higher percentage of GDP going to government. One step behind us
is Denmark, the country with the highest share of GDP going to government of any
developed nation.

Number one and two on the list are Hong Kong and
Singapore, which could more accurately be called city-states rather than
countries. And yes, Singapore does have a very authoritarian government that no
supposed libertarian would ever seek to emulate.

liberal larrysalt lake City, utah

Jan. 13, 2012 6:41 a.m.

I see the DNews editorial board is getting its economic world view from another
right wing think tank, the Heritage Foundation. This group was founded by the
wealthy beer magnate Adolph Coors as a reaction against the perceived liberalism
of that famous lefty Richard Nixon.

Isn't it just a little ridiculous
to glean economic policy for the United States from small island off the coast
of Africa with a population of 1.3 million people, and a GDP of less than 20
billion dollars? Wasn't it just a couple of years ago that Ireland was being
held up by conservatives as an "economic miracle"?